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ROLEX AND DRIVERS LOOKING
FOR VICTORY AT EMCO GEARS CLASSIC
HOOSIER UP TO THE CHALLENGE
By: Paula Nate
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8-30-05
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Lexington, Ohio (Saturday, August 27, 2005) - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio started out the EMCO Gears Classic by extending a very special thank you to the members of the United States Armed Forces for their dedicated and heroic service to our country, as well as the families who support them. Prior to the EMCO Gears Classic, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course paid tribute to the 102 military members from Ohio who have lost their lives and one prisoner of war during the current conflict in Iraq.
Widely known as the "most competitive in the U.S.", Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a permanent road course with both a 2.4-mile, 15-turn configuration and a 2.25-mile, 13-turn layout. Among the track's signature turns are the Keyhole, the Esses, Thunder Valley and the Carousel. This was the beginning of round 10 of 14 in the 2005 Rolex Sports Car Series season.
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 A field of 21 Daytona Prototypes (DP) and 23 Grand Touring (GT) cars started Saturdays race, on what may prove to be a pivotal day in the 2005 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series, or maybe just one of the best days of racing ever. In a pulse-pounding finish the No. 4, the Boss Snowplow Pontiac Crawford driver Butch Leitzinger held off Scott Pruett's No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley by just 0.465 seconds and crossed the stripe just 2.126 seconds ahead of the sixth place finisher to take the victory.
One of the key storylines going into the race was how Daytona Prototype points co-leaders Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor would respond after their No. 10 SunTrust Pontiac Riley caught fire with Taylor at the wheel during Friday's qualifying session. The SunTrust team worked overnight to rebuild the car, which was ready in time for the morning warm-up and coming in with a third place podium finish.
Forest Barber owner of the No. 54 DP Pontiac Doran, Kodak-Bell Motorsports team had this to say about the Hoosier Racing Tires after the race. "The tires were incredible, we ran the entire race on one set of tires, leading the race for 15 laps and running one of our fastest laps in lap number 71."
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 With a single-car incident shortening the qualifying session by one-third, many GT class cars were only able to register two or three "quick" laps for the EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio. Justin Marks led the GT field to the green flag in Saturday evening's race, after powering his No. 16 F1 Air BMW M3 to the top qualifying spot with a lap of 1:28.359 (91.997 mph). Justin Marks who has combined with BMW Team PTG teammate Joey Hand to win two of the past three races didn't have enough to match the sheer determination of the No. 21, BMW M3, Prototype Group of Kelly Collins, RJ Valentine and Tom Milner. After starting from the back of the pack due to a post-qualifying inspection revealing a technical infraction on the BMW Team PTG machine. The team knew they had nothing to loose and everything to gain. RJ Valentine opted to set this one out, so that the team would have a chance to win. One additional pit stop / driver change would have not provided the team a podium position, let alone the win.
Live audio web casts of the EMCO Gears Classic and the Grand-Am Cup 200 will be available in both English and Spanish via the official web site of the Grand American Road Racing Association,
www.grandamerican.com. The site also features Live Timing & Scoring data from every on-track session and complete coverage from throughout the weekend. Speed Channel will have the race tape delayed August 28, 2005, 12:00 pm. ET
Hoosier Racing Tire is proud to be the sole tire supplier for the Grand American / Rolex Racing Series.
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Copyright ©
2005 Hoosier Racing Tire Corp.
All rights reserved.
Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form.
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